5 Books like House of Leaves || Ergodic Literature

[@mikethoma6449]

I love that this book makes you question your own sanity - because eventually you're not even phased by the multiple stories happening in one chapter. You just keep turning pages and physically rotating the book almost rhythmically to keep going. Personally when I finished the book I had a gap in my life that no book could fill and I ended up just re-reading the damn thing like a labyrinth I escaped only to immediately return to. Also it dawned on me while reading this in public just how manic and strange you look to the outside observer tilting your head and flipping the book upside down. I have no idea if these were the intentions of the Danielewski, but it fits the narrative perfectly. Thank you for these recommendations!

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

Ah! I love your analysis! I felt very similarly when I finished HOL. I never thought about what it would look to an outsider which is super interesting, haha. I basically locked myself in a dark room for two days to read it.

[@EwokChris]

Thank you for these recommendations! I finished House of Leaves a couple years ago. When I first started reading it I’ll admit I had to stop and eventually I gave up on it. I wasn’t into the ergodic style and how non-linear it was told. But the story kept lingering in the back of my mind, the mystery that consumed Johnny, and the whole story of the “Navidson Record” were basically calling me back to it. I eventually came back YEARS later, even repurchasing the book, cause my copy somehow disappeared, and even had to restart the book too. To this day it’s perhaps one of my favorite books, just even typing this out I’m eager to dive back into it again. But I’ve been looking for more in this genre to read! I do have S. by JJ Abrams and I haven’t started that one yet (it’s on reading my list) but I feel the same way about books and inserts! Especially buying used books and finding those little things people leave behind in them. I think the most interesting thing I found was a piece of paper that was a pamphlet for therapy. I forgot which book I found it in but I was sad to see that :( but it gives you that detail of someone’s life, someone who you don’t even know or will maybe never meet at all, and I find that fascinating. With S. I like that idea of having two characters communicate with handwritten notes/footnotes and inserts like a handwritten napkin and a college paper news-clipping, it’s so cool. Thank you for making this video! I’m about to purchase Illuminae and The Dead House! They all sound fascinating! Another book I’ve heard recommended that you didn’t mention is one called The Raw Shark Texts. I haven’t read it myself but that’s one I’m keeping an eye out as well! I heard it’s pretty tense with a crazy ending though.

[@mattie1478]

I recently got into the concept of ergodic literature after watching a "Power Pak" video about a, well, a mod for the video game "Doom"... I know, seems unrelated, but I highly recommend to just watch it without even reading the description. It's amazing. After that I watched a video by CloudCuckooCountry about ergodic books and now I'm waiting for my copy of House of Leaves to be delivered. Had to order it because not a single bookstore or library in my city had it. Really excited to read it though!

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

Oh that sounds cool! I've been wanting to play Doom so I will totally look it up, thank you for sharing! I hope you enjoy House of Leaves. I thought it was a super fun read. I also had to order it online because no stores here carry it. Wild seeing how popular it is, right? Best of luck with reading!

[@dlackovic13]

House of Leaves has been one of my all time favorite books, and I'm always searching for more books like it. Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai and Steven Hall's The Raw Shark Texts were two that I found and loved. Thanks for adding more to my list

[@AliceT3a]

thanks! I've read House of Leaves and ILLUMINAE, both are a fun time but are def completely different. It's whats so fun about Ergodic books (thanks for the term) I just really like when the story plays with the books layout. I'll probably check out Dead House!

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

Glad to hear some feedback on Illuminae, it sounds so interesting! Hopefully you enjoy Dead House, I would love to know your thoughts!

[@TheSalMaris]

And then there are the classics like Tristram Shandy and Patchen's Journal of Albion Moonlight . . .

[@mpulsiveartist]

I have House of Leaves and have heard of S, but was not aware of the other books. Thanks for the video.

[@timlarsson]

Did you ever get your hands on S. ? It is by far the book with the best "production value" I've ever read, with all the inserts (the quality of them!) and how real everything looks. The handwritten annotations look real, the old book really looks old, and I am certain they even developed some kind of perfume - brand new and wrapped in plastic, when you opened up the old book it smelled like library. Felt like a library book. I was just let down by the book within the book, "The Ship of Theseus", I didn't find it interesting... and that kind of dragged the whole thing down, making me question why the students were so obsessed with this book. But it might just have been the wrong timing, that I just couldn't appreciate it at the time. I will go back into it! But with that said, if "The Ship of Theseus" had been "House of Leaves" and the annotations were yet another layer after Zampano, Truant and Editors... then it would've made more sense :) Oh well, I'm rambling. I want to add a couple of recommendations: Steven Hall's Raw Shark Texts, I found it through Danielewski recommending it. Not super ergodic but has slight traces of it. Very good book in my opinion, and had some secrets you could find online (maybe still can). Not really spoilers: For every chapter, there's a negative chapter. One specific translation might have chapter -7, and to access that content you just have to hope someone photographed it and put it online (and maybe translated it). The negatives are all bonus content though, and everything wasn't found. Anyway, great book. He also wrote a second book: Maxwell's Demon, and I like that one too. (I'm actually in the Thank you page in the UK paperback edition (and any edition past the first hardback) :D)

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

Thank you so much for these recomendations!! I have yet to get my hands on a copy of S :( It is forever elusive and I am not sure I will ever be able to bask in the beauty of it. I will for sure check out some of the books you mentioned! Cool that you're in the thank you page for the UK edition!

[@F91RPG]

Such a shame I found it’s just impossible to get The unfortunates

[@personmcpersonperson2893]

Great video 😊

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

Thank you :)

[@markalexander3659]

Speaking of not knowing how one of these books would work as an audiobook...House of Leaves is available on KINDLE which really confuses me about how that would work.

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

Woah! I would have no idea of how to make that make sense? Someone update if they have it. I'm curious!

[@MoniVenSmit]

House of Leaves is not available on Kindle. You have to obtain a physical copy.

[@markalexander3659]

@@MoniVenSmit It IS available on Kindle...I literally saw it...on amazon (UK)...for sale....on kindle

[@WellTraveledBooks]

I tried to read House of Leaves soo many years ago and I could not get into it. I would love to try picking it up again. It is so cool to see that there are so many other books in this format!

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

It's definitely not for everyone :( But I think you'd like the one I mentioned in here my J.J. Abrams. Maybe a buddy read??? :)

[@SweeeeetTea]

I read and adored House of Leaves last year and ended up getting S and Hopscotch because i kept hearing about them in other ergodic book lists but I haven’t had the chance to read them yet. But this makes me want to dig in!

[@muskyoxes]

S is my only such experience. Because the story threads are overlaid, you get them all at once at the beginning and it's headtripping fun. But then it reduces the impact of the rest of the book because it frontloaded so much of the coolness

[@annedixon7609]

The unfortunate is unavailable and when you can buy it, it’s overly expensive

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

That is often the case, unfortunately. Due to the nature of a lot of these books, they're hard to print/expensive to print.

[@MoniVenSmit]

Let's be real there isn't any book like house of leaves.

[@Yogeshvlog1437]

Hi Emily how are u

[@EmilyReadsBooks]

Hi, I'm good! How are you?

[@Yogeshvlog1437]

@@EmilyReadsBooks I'm also good What books do you like to read historical, geographical, autobiographical

[@portiawebb533]

The majority of these books are morbid….

[@MrComet101]

Is that a problem? House of leaves is fairly morbid as well